SCENARIOFeathers and Wings $($F&W$)$ is a tropical bird centre located in the small village of Driford. F&W has$18$ species of birds kept in purpose$-$built aviaries $($bird houses$).$ Each aviary has an indoor andoutdoor area. There are also nesting boxes in the trees surrounding the centre, which the native birdspecies use.F&W has had financial difficulties for the last $18$ months, which has forced the owner to sell thecentre to Animal World. This will not affect the jobs of the current workers, or the previous ownerwho has kept their position as the managing director $($MD$).$ However, when on site, the MD spendsmost of their time in the office on the telephone. It is hoped that the sale will lead to investment in thecentre and increase the number of visitors each year. As part of this sale, a health and safetyconsultant $($HSC$)$ will soon be auditing F&Ws current health and safety arrangements.Other than the aviaries, the site has a small office and a small rest area. Next to the rest area, thereis a food preparation area, where the food for the birds is prepared. Outside is a shipping container,containing all the equipment for cleaning out the aviaries and maintaining the centre. The equipmentincludes brushes, spades, buckets, hammers, screwdrivers and ladders. An old training matrix isattached to one of the shipping container doors. There is also a large open$-$topped waste containerfor general waste, located next to the shipping container. At the entrance to the centre is a smallentrance booth where payment is taken from visitors.Recently, four school leavers under the age of $18$ years have joined the centre as part$-$time birdkeepers. In addition, there are $6$ full$-$time bird keepers. Worker A has been working at the centre thelongest and considers themselves to be more superior to the rest of the workers. Worker A thinksthat the younger workers are lazy and frequently orders them around. The younger workers havetried to talk to the MD about worker As attitude, but whenever they do$,$ the MD always tells them tocome and talk to them when they are not as busy.As part of the recent sale of F&W$,$ Animal World has agreed to a new, larger, owl aviary to be built.The MD has allocated an area for this at the far end of the centre. Before building the new owlaviary, the area needs to be cleared of undergrowth. In addition, $5$ nesting boxes, attached to treesin this area, need to be relocated. To keep the costs down, the MD has agreed with Animal Worldthat the F&W bird keepers will do all of this work.HSC visitThe next morning, the HSC from Animal World is due at the centre at $10$:$30.$ Workers B and C havestarted to clear the undergrowth and are placing this in the open$-$topped waste container. The MD isin the office collating the health and safety information for the HSC$.$ As workers arrive, they sign inon the clipboard just inside the office.When the HSC arrives, they cannot find any workers. The worker manning the entrance booth haddecided to go and make a hot drink as there have only been $4$ visitors so far today. After wanderingaround for ten minutes, the HSC eventually finds the MD in the office. After an initial discussion, theHSC asks about the health and safety arrangements that the centre has in place. The MD hands theHSC a thin folder. The HSC has a quick look in the folder and sees a health and safety policystatement, and a generic risk assessment for working at the centre. Both are dated $2018.$ The HSCasks if the policy statement is displayed anywhere and to see any accident records. The MD repliesthat the policy is not displayed anywhere and that they have not had any accidents. The HSCsuspects that this is not the case, but asks if they can talk to the workers.Relocation of nesting boxesWorkers B and C have cleared enough undergrowth to access some of the trees that have nestingboxes attached to them. Worker B tells worker C that they are going to start removing the nestingboxes, and they go to collect a ladder from the shipping container.IG$1-0036-$ENG$-$OBE$-$QP$-$V$1$ Mar$24$ NEBOSH $2024$ page $3$ of $6$When worker B gets to the shipping container, the HSC is looking at the training matrix on the door.Worker B points out to the HSC that the training matrix is out$-$of$-$date so they should not waste theirtime reviewing it$.$ The HSC then asks worker B about the training and if it is correct that the lasttraining was carried out three years ago. Worker B confirms this. The HSC asks if there is anyreason why there has not been any training more recently. Worker B replies that the MD believesthat once a worker has been trained, they do not need training again. Worker B continues that theMD also considers that the money is better spent elsewhere, especially as we do not have anyaccidents. Worker B adds that they do not think any of those workers listed in the training matrix stillwork here, not many people stay for long. Then worker B goes into the shipping container. Thereare two ladders available, one is shorter than the other. Worker B thinks that the shorter of the twoladders would require them to stretch their arms out fully to reach the fixings on the nesting boxes.Worker B decides to pick up the longer ladder and goes back to their task.As worker B extends the ladder and positions it against the tree, the mechanism that locks the slidingportion of the ladder fails, and the ladder slides shut making a loud noise. Worker B assumes thatthey have not secured the ladder properly, so they extend it again and lean it against the tree. Asworker B is now confident that the ladder is secure$,$ they go to collect a screwdriver and a drill. Whenthey return $5$ minutes later, the ladder has slid shut again and is lying on the floor. Worker C tellsworker B that it came down with a loud noise and made them jump. Worker B explains that thelocking mechanism must be faulty, so they pick up the ladder and take it to put inside the open$-$topped waste container. The waste container is nearly full, so worker B leans the ladder up againstthe open$-$topped waste container and returns to the shipping container. Here, they collect the shorterladder, although they are unsure if it will be suitable for the job.At the end of the day, workers B and C have cleared three$-$quarters of the area but have onlyrelocated one of the nesting boxes. After returning all the equipment to the shipping container theycollect their personal items, sign out and leave for the day.An hour and a half later, the MD finishes in the office and starts their daily walk around the centre tocheck that everything has been secured for the night. All of the other workers have left for the day.When the MD has completed their checks, they return to the office. As they walk past the open$-$topped waste container, they notice the ladder leaning against it$.$ They assume it has been left out,so they return it to the shipping container and lock the doors. They leave once they are happy thateverything is secured.The following morning, worker C is busy cleaning out an aviary. Worker B telephoned the office tosay that they were feeling ill and would not be attending work today. The MD is keen to get the areafor the new owl aviary cleared as soon as possible, even though construction is not expected to startfor another month. There are not enough workers available to allocate two workers to this task. TheMD asks worker A if they can continue with the work started by workers B and C$.$ Worker A is happyto do this. They comment that they do not know what has taken workers B and C so long and thatthey will be able to get it all finished by the end of the day. The MD is pleased to hear this andreturns to the office.Demonstrating management commitment$1$ How does the Managing Director demonstrate poor management commitmentto health and safety? Note: You should support your answer, where applicable, using relevantinformation from the scenario.